"I don't think that anyone would argue with President Skorton's belief that the key to the future is remembering Cornell's ideas and ideals of the past," said Lt. Col. Steven Alexander, the head of Cornell Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) and an Army infantry officer. "Today we honor and remember the selfless service, sense of duty, sacrifice and contribution that Cornellians have made to their nation in military service throughout the existence of the university -- ideals that I think will continue to be relevant well into the future."

Alexander spoke at Cornell's Veteran's Day Ceremony, held Nov. 11 in Willard Straight Hall's Memorial Room, as did cadet Col. Olivia Lawson. The military choir Command Voice sang the national anthem and the Tri-Service ROTC Color Guard posted and retired the colors. Approximately 80 ROTC students, staff and faculty attended the ceremony and the reception that followed.

Alexander focused on "what Cornell graduates -- past, present and future -- have contributed and will contribute to their community by way of military service." His overview of Cornellians in the military ranged from Col. Frank Barton, who in 1891 was the first Cornellian to receive a commission in the regular Army and later became the first professor of military science at Cornell, to the 4,598 commissioned officers from Cornell who served in World War I and the nearly 20,000 Cornellians who served in World War II. He also highlighted some of those killed in action during the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

"In keeping with the past, current Cornell graduates have matched the pace of their nation's requirement for highly qualified leaders within the military," Alexander said. Among recent graduates serving in the Armed Forces are Chris O'Brien '03 and Mike Philpott '05, who have both been deployed multiple times to Iraq, Alexander said, and each will soon serve in Afghanistan; Geoffrey Shagra '06 and Jake Bollinger '06, who have been involved in the reconstruction of Iraq, and Dave Eisler '07 and Mike Dill '07, who participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom and were redeployed earlier this year.

He cited the Class of 2010 reserve officers who will soon join the ranks of future veterans: Carolyn Evans, Jeff Mullen, Olivia Lawson, Michele Hinton, Alex Hydrian, Brittany Bundrant and Daniel Furey.